Appel au meurtre

I had seen this 1988 made-for-TV remake of a 1960s feature--the earlier having featured Joan Crawford in one of her last film roles--in my last year of college and had pretty much forgotten it. Last night, however, I happened to catch it on the cable network Sleuth and was surprised at how effective it was. I think the low budget and bare bones script combine to give the film a stark feeling missing in most TV movies of the day. None of the performances is much above average, except for an all too brief turn by a young Jo Anderson as the distressed girlfriend of the male lead, but the ensemble merges its talents well enough to keep us at least interested. All in all, it kind of reminded me of those shoestring budget ABC movie-of-the-week gems from the early 70s where actresses like eventual Emmy winner Kay Lenz got their start. Good diversion from the ordinary, especially if you're not expecting much.

I assumed this was an 80's remake of the modest William Castle sleeper with the same title that came out in 1965, but apparently both movies are just based on one and the same novel by Ursula Curtiss. So, "I Saw What You Did" isn't really a remake, but merely a re-imagining. Or simply another version, if you wish. It's a fun little movie with a very simplistic but effective plot, fresh young actresses' faces and the two coolest Carradine brothers starring as actual brothers. There are some big differences between this version and the aforementioned William Castle film, but the most rudimentary plot concept naturally remained the same. Two teenage girls, whilst babysitting the younger sister of one of them, are bored senseless and decide to entertain themselves by making prank calls to randomly selected names in the phone book. They arrive at the name Adrian Lancer, but he just killed his girlfriend because she didn't want to marry him. When the girls stupidly make up a prank like "I saw what you did and I know who you are", Adrian naturally assumes that somebody witnessed the murder and goes even further out of his mind. Meanwhile the girls stupidly begin to fantasize about Adrian's voice and bizarre music and can't resist driving over to his house to catch a glimpse… "I Saw What You Did" is fun and charming, but also unmemorable, mainly because there's very few action. I personally prefer the Castle version, because there John Ireland depicts the psychopath and there's a terrific sub plot involving the creepy Joan Crawford as his sickly amorous neighbor. In this film, that particular sub plot gets replaced by Adrian Lancer's brother showing up to help keeping his violent tendencies under control. The film is competently directed by Fred Walton. That guy must really like telephone-terror, as he also made the more or less genre classic "When a Stranger Calls". I guess the absolute best thing about watching "I Saw What You Did" now is how it catapults you straight back to the glorious eighties! The girls (Shawnee Smith and Tammy Lauren) are genuine 80's beauties, with typical dress code and hair styles, and back then it was still possible to make a horror movie about ordinary old-fashioned telephones instead of gadgets like mobile phones, Skype, Caller-ID or IPods.

This film is a remake of the 1965 William Castle classic of the same title. It was made for TV, although that's not such a big problem on paper as the plot is very simple and there's not a lot of room for bloodshed anyway. The film also features a distinctly eighties style, which firmly puts the story in the time in which the film was made. Unfortunately, however, the focus of the film is spread thinly over a lot of different areas and as a result; the central plot suffers as its not fleshed out very well and the characters suffer too as we never really get to know anything about them. The plot focuses on two kids babysitting a younger one. They're bored and decide to get some kicks by making prank phone calls. The game soon gets round to "I know what you did", which involves phoning someone and simply saying that phrase. Unfortunately, however, they decide to call a Mr Adrian Lancer, a disturbed man that happens to have just murdered his wife...

The original film featured the same basic plot, so to call this one unlikely and the original not would be unfair. However, the fact that the original is so much better handled means that this version really struggles to get the plot across. The big coincidence of the girls' game and the murder isn't glossed over with any kind of gimmick which makes it stand out like a sore thumb. Furthermore, the girls themselves have very little character and Robert Carradine looks bored in his role as the murderer and so doesn't bring forward any tension or suspense. The plot is played rather straight for most of the film, which means things rather just drone on and it gets tiresome quickly. Tammy Lauren stands out in her role, though that's only because of her awful eighties haircut, while Shawnee Smith is mostly incognito. It soon becomes clear that the film isn't going to present any surprises and indeed the ending is rather typical. We do finish off with a final twist that is both nonsensical and redundant. Overall, I highly recommend giving the original a look if you want a fun lightweight thriller; but don't bother tracking this version down.

Perhaps more than any other coming-of-age angst film, this made-for-TV gem captures the fad-drenched arrogance and superciliousness of teenagers, pinpointing certain dangers that accompany such an attitude. It is the character of Lisa Harris (brilliantly portrayed by Tammy Lauren)that exudes this smart-ass front the best. Kim Fielding (Shawnee Smith) is putty in Lisa's hands as she is led down the road to perdition for the selfish motive of wanting a place for the night to rendezvous with her profligate boyfriend.

This nifty little film has it all, thrills, chills, suspense...you name it. Obviously much of the credit not only belongs to the superb cast, including the two Carradine brothers who play crazed brothers, but to the script by Cynthia Cidre, since both this TV flick and the earlier Joan Crawford "I Saw What You Did" (1965) are based on the same novel by Ursula Curtiss, not to slight the original William Castle production which itself is a fine addition to the horror genre. Yet this TV version goes beyond mere terror to a more thorough psychological analysis of what makes the main players tick. Even the smaller parts are more fleshed out than is usual for a TV show.

The plot is a familiar one by now. Two bored teenage girls, alone except for one's pesky little sister, decide to make prank phone calls. As expected, they accidentally reach a mad man in the midst of a murder. One bad move leads to another until the mad man is hot on the trail of one of the girls. But director Fred Walton, of "When a Stranger Calls" fame, keeps the show moving at a fast pace and though the ending is not that unusual it still comes as a surprise and as presented is extremely effective.

I may be crazy... but I liked this movie!!

The basic plot is this: bored high school girls play pranks and meet cute and unusual musician who turns out to be a psychotic killer.

This is a low budget, made for TV movie at its best!!

Robert Carradine does an excellent job of portraying over-the-edge eccentric Adrian Lancer. Quite a nice change of pace from all that "Revenge of the Nerds" nonsense. He makes the story line at least somewhat plausible and shows you convincing traits that would make two high school girls interested in him. Nice touch of having David Carradine play Adrian's brother Stephen.

I was really impressed with performances by Tammy Lauren and Shawnee Smith as a prankster and a prep school do gooder. Plus, Candace Cameron is not nearly as annoying here as she was on Full House.

The movie is slow moving at times. I would imagine that they had a good hour long movie, but then they had to fill up two hours in a Monday night time slot. If you get the chance to see it -- wait -- I don't even know if you CAN rent this anywhere, other than from me, since for some reason I happen to still have it taped on VHS from ten years ago. However, if you come across it, give it a chance. I suppose in some ways it is similar to the recent grouping of movies loosely titled "I Saw What You Did and Who You Were Screaming With Two Summers Ago", except that it is more like a realistic documentary of "here is what happened in one evening", rather than larger-than-life killers in costume targeting anyone in town.

Don't expect too much, and you won't be disappointed.